Welcome to the East Biloxi Baptist Church (SBC)
East Howard Baptist Church is a small congregation that is located in the Point Cadet area on the east side of Biloxi. We have the dubious distinction of being two blocks north of the Biloxi Grand Casino. In fact if you turned into the parking structure by the Grand's hotel you can pass through it and come out on Maple Street. Continue north one block and you're there.
We have a "traditional" graded Bible School at 10:00 AM on Sunday followed by the morning Worship service from 11 AM until noon. Wednesday evening at 6 PM, we have a mid-week Prayer/Bible Study service.
East Howard was without a Pastor. We contacted Tim Hines and he came to our aid as a supply preacher. After a few weeks we started dropping hints, Tim took the hint, and offered to serve as Interim Pastor... at least thru December. Tim already had a full schedule and we weren't sure that he could take on any more. In the short time that Tim has been with us our Sunday morning attendance has has a steady increase from the 20's to the 40's. While December had come and gone, Tim offered to stay on. In early March we called Dr. Hines to be our Pastor.
In Matthew 13:5-7, we read about seed where..... "Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them....." Before Katrina, our neighborhood was a stony place with thorn bushes. It was a tough field. A year after Katrina, our neighborhood is still stony & thorny and it is also devastated. We have scattered FEMA trailers with some houses being rebuilt. East Biloxi is the old part of town and it has been the poorest part of town. We see it as an inner city type ministry and East Biloxi. The years ahead have the potential to change this as the neighborhood gets rebuilt.
Our Sunday morning congregation may be small, but we are a vibrant group of believers striving to please God with our lives. We are restructuring the focus of our church's ministry back to God. The church is pouring its resources into our children's ministry in order to make it a vibrant, exciting and educational experience for our children. Other goals of our church focuses on training, equipping and encouraging the saints. We want to prepare ourselves to serve God not only in our community but everywhere our paths may lead us.
Dress at all of the services is more casual then usual. To facilitate churches looking to come and help us, please check the following schedule. Following the schedule is a needs list. We are in a re-construction mode utilizing teams of volunteers from many churches that partnered with us. To accomodate volunteers, the 2nd floor of our education building is set up to serve as a primative dorm. There are 3 restrooms, 5 showers and a washer/dryer on the 2nd floor. Teams will need to bring towels, sleeping bags, air mattresses, etc. On the 1st floor we have three restrooms in service and an operational kitchen.
The Vietnamese congregation's service is from 1 to 3 on Sunday. It is a Vietnamese language service.
* * * * * * * * * Reconstruction Needs List * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For all practical purposes, the 1st floor is completed.
This leaves the entire 2nd floor (6000 sq ft).
Asterisk denotes progress: *** completed; ** mostly completed; * started; (none) not started.
>>> denotes ongoing.
**Electrical wiring and fixtures - Odds and ends remain.
**Plumbing fixtures and cabinets - There are two restrooms on the 2nd floor.
**HVAC units - the apartment area never had central air and we'd like to put in central systems.
**Doors - about eighteen.
*Replace Drywall - One side of walls 50% completed on 11/12/05. One side is 80% on 2/4/06. Electrical & Framing insrpections were passed in late September. Drywall work has resumed....there's a lot to hang!
Install suspended ceiling 1st floor - 80% completed. Nothing has been done on the 2nd floor.
*Replace Flooring - GCBA to get us started in Kitchen & Food Pantry. Need an experienced floor person as the slab has problems that will need to be worked around or corrected. Food Pantry was the first to be completed 3/16/06. Since then the kitchen, dining hall, and sanctuary have been completed. Many rooms remain and most will get vinyl tile. Restrooms are to get ceramic tile.
Refurnish other rooms-
...............Back to our normal times text.................
In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field". If you're a Christian who has been warming a pew, but is ready for action, we'd like to invite you to join us in the east Biloxi harvest field. We especially need people who love, and can work with, children. Opportunities exist for Sunday School teachers and out-reach workers.
Our address is 241 Howard Ave, Biloxi MS 39530
Our Phone number is (228)432-1022
Please send Questions or comments regarding this site to timhines@hotmail.com, or just a note to let us know who has visited the site.
